2006 Hurricane Betting Odds
Over the past week, Gambling911.com has been contacted by nearly every major media outlet under the sun inquiring about hurricane betting odds. Everyone from the Gainesville Sun to the Miami Herald to the Washington Post to Reuters has become fascinated with this story.
The 2006 hurricane season begins today June 1, 2006.
“We had to wrestle with it, some people view it as a morbid thing to offer,” he said of his site’s storm season bets. “But we can’t stop hurricanes. There’s been a true interest in it from the public.”
Not surprising, the very media entities that might frown upon such an offering are they themselves benefiting from the hurricane season. The Weather Channel most certainly gets its biggest audience during peak hurricane news (which would likely translate into more sponsorship dollars). Likewise the major news networks seemingly get a thrill out of placing their top reporters in harm’s way while their audience eats it all up. Who doesn’t love watching reporters blowing around in 100 plus mph winds?
The networks profit from hurricane coverage. Coming into this week one would swear it was the start of the Christmas season. There are more “hurricane” specials on television this week than there are animated Rudolph and Frosty the Snowman programs leading up to Christmas. It’s amazing they haven’t organized a parade down Ocean Drive yet!
And we can also argue that the Hurricane Season is becoming much like Christmastime from a marketing point of view. Stock up on bare essentials, which for this hurricane season include expensive generators, home insurance, extra groceries and we wouldn’t be surprised to see liquor advertisements incorporate the whole “hurricane fear” theme.
